Review: Meditation & Sound Healing therapy in Greenwich

I am loving my fitness journey! I can see my body changing slowly and I am loving the effects of eating healthier; it’s made a great impact on my skin, hair (even though I’m still experiencing postpartum hairloss) and energy level. Being a parent can be really stressful – actually it is VERY stressful – but some of us are just better at managing the stress than others. I used to be so chilled when it came to parenting when it was just LO but with Baby Girl now in the picture, I find that I am a lot more stressed, have zero patience, constantly anxious and feel like I can’t shut off properly because every five minutes one of them is crying (screaming) or the house needs tidying… again for the tenth time.

Being away in the morning for my fitness classes really gives me that ‘time out’ that I need to keep myself sane and I really love it. So when Kalie (@pyschicladykay) sent me an email to let me know about a meditation and sound healing taster session she was doing last week I could only say yes. Time out to meditate and heal? Why would I ever try to decline that offer? I’ve only ever touched on meditation in yoga class and through my BeCalm mindfulness app but it can be so hard to switch off and meditate properly with so much going around. I was excited to see what Kalie’s taster session was going to offer.

The session

Kalie started off by introducing herself then telling us what she believes meditation is about and what sound healing can offer us. Her explanation of meditation was simplified and relevant. She mentioned that too many people over-complicate the practice [of meditation] and some use the term too loosely. In her description, meditation is all about doing nothing, letting the mind relax and think of nothing. This is easier said than done, trust me. She then asks us if we’ve experienced sound therapy before and the majority of us said no but a few of the other people had experienced something similar.

Kalie explains that sound healing is all about letting the vibrations of the sound instruments resonate through the ground and through our bodies to reach the areas that needed ‘healing’. Sound healing is not a new type of alternative therapy – it’s actually been used for thousands of years. Think about it, we associate a lot of our emotions with sounds – songs – in this case. When you’ve had a crappy day, you may play your favourite songs and the beat starts to grab hold of you and you start to feel better… that is essentially what sound healing does (but this is on an emotional level as to a physiological level).

Back to the session, Kalie introduces us to the instruments she’ll be playing during the sound bath which is literally the description for being bathed in sound and vibrations made from the instruments. She showed us a gong, Tibetan singing bowls, crystal singing bowls, a Native American drum, and some smaller percussion instruments.

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The experience

Once we were ready to start Kalie asked us all to close our eyes and guided us through the meditation section of the session. After we meditated it was time for our sound bath. We all laid down on our mats and wrapped ourselves in our blankets as Kalie said we may start to feel cold towards the end of the session. She also explained that we may feel emotional or confused after the session which is to be expected so we will have a brief talk about our experience post-session to bring us back together and let us regather our thoughts.

As I laid down I felt completely relaxed. I covered myself snuggly with the blanket and waited for the sound bath. I can’t remember what instrument Kalie used first anymore but I do remember that it was a lovely sound. I found it a little difficult to shut off completely so I focused on my breathing which helped. I remember my mind drifted off somewhere that was in-between sleep and being awake. [Ever seen Leo DiCaprio’s Inception? Remember their state of limbo? Yeah, that’s the best way to describe the place where I was.] When we first started the session I could hear background noise and the cars etc outside but when we were deeper into the session (around the time of the gong being played) all I could hear was the sound of the instruments and no background noise. Not even one car driving past.

When Kalie played the gong, I could feel the vibrations resonating on the floor and going through my body. A really weird but lovely sensation – for me, it felt very similar to the feeling of getting shivers down your spine but in a nice way and all over the body as opposed to just the spine. 🙂 I also felt a lot of heat generated around my head – I think it was the energy of the instruments seeking the one place it needed to ‘heal’. It was undoing all that stress, tension, anxiety that I carried around in my mind. I think I drifted off into a brief dream and I am definitely sure I was snoring away (most probably loudly and throat-y too) – I asked my friend and she said no but I think she was just being kind haha! 🙂

What felt like 10 mins was actually 30 mins and soon before I knew it, Kalie rang these small bells to gently wake us from our meditative state. I did wake up a little confused because I was so sure it had only been 10 mins into the session. I was very shocked to find out that 30mins had gone by and I couldn’t even tell. Once everyone got themselves together we briefly discussed our experiences. I think my body is very receptive towards alternative therapies and find they work for me. I’ve had Reiki before and it was very accurate at pinpointing my problem areas.

I left the session feeling relaxed, refreshed and both physically and mentally calm. I actually stayed like that for the whole day, it was amazing! Not once did I have to shout at LO that day or tell him off for anything – it was like everything around me aligned and in sync. 🙂 I will definitely be returning for more sessions and try to make it a monthly thing. Kalie is also a Reiki master and offers many other therapies. You can find a list of these on her blog https://diaryofapsychic.com/

If you are looking for a different type of experience to help you unwind and relax for an hour, I definitely recommend trying a meditation or sound healing (or both!). Kalie is really amazing and I highly recommend her. 🙂

If you are interested in popping along one day, you can check out the class details on my local events page.

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Have you ever tried meditation or sound healing before? How did you find your experience?